Brᾰila's Knight - Castlevania
by TeaDracula
Summary: Trevor finds himself in Brᾰila during the attacks of Vlad Tepes' army of Demons, out of money and ready to fight whatever comes next. Yet, shockingly, he comes across another who seems to know how to fight the creatures of the night, a green scarf catching his eye as they soar through the air. Yet as he comes to find out, this wasn't just anyone - It was a women. † Castlevania
1. Chapter 1 - Aria

**Authors note!**

 **Hi there, I just want to clear a few things up before we begin. I know that Gabriel Belmont isn't exactly Trevor Belmont's father, but for the sake of this story, he is. Also, my geographical knowledge of Wallachia in the 1400s isn't fabulous, so I'm trying my best and sorry if I use names of towns that don't exist in that time etc - Enjoy the story!**

 **Wallachia, Brᾰila - 1476**

Yet again, another town that was to come under the forceful grip of Dracula's minions, yet more innocent Humans who would come to their death through blood and fire – but as their savior, the one they didn't want, walked through the streets slowly his only thought was on where he could possibly find his next meal, his large hood covering his face somewhat as his feet scraped through the gravel. What was there to say? Every town was just like the other at this point. Blood splattered walls, body parts lining the streets, vendors trying to sell the last of the supplies the town had and those who shouted out the word of the bible as nightfall only loomed. Everywhere he looked, he just saw a vision of the same disaster again and again, but with that thought, the large man turned to a stall selling fruit. It was bruised and discolored, perhaps a few days off – but he would take what he could get at this point.

"I'm going to be blunt," He began. "I don't have any money, I used the last of it...Well, I don't quite remember actually. Anyway, what can you give me just to be kind?" He asked in a sly and sarcastic tone as he leaned up against the edges of the stall, the meekly dressed women behind it staring him down in disgust.

"Just because the world is falling to ruins doesn't mean I should give you anything for free," She snapped. "A woman still has to make her money somewhere, especially since prices are going up!" She finished, crossing her arms across her chest, the man in front of her rubbing his face in annoyance.

"Look, I'm going to be blunt again. Y'see those people up there?" He pointed upwards behind him to a house that had bodies of a family hanging out the window. "Come nightfall you'll be as good as them. Now just give me a fucking apple so I can be on my way." He grunted as he put his hand out to the women. She scoffed at him for a moment, but slowly her eyes drew up to the dead bodies just a while away, and quickly, in an irate manner, she placed an apple in his hand. The man quickly put the apple to his mouth as he began to walk away, the women at the stall still glaring at him.

"Who do you think you are?" She demanded, making the man smirk slightly as he glanced back to her.

"I'm Trevor Belmont, and something tells me you'll like me a bit more comes nightfall." And with that, Trevor strolled out of the marketplace, awaiting night to fall.

†

With a start, Trevor awoke, finding himself slumped in an alleyway as screams filled the night, and slowly, with a grunt, he pushed himself up onto his feet, running his hand down his face tiredly before he moved to the entrance of the alleyway, staring out at people running for their lives as large Demon like creatures gave chase. Trevor sighed – why did he have to fall asleep again?

He moved out from the alleyway, taking his whip from his belt and holding it tightly as he quickly moved along the walls of the houses, keeping low as he watched the devastation go on around him. People moved almost machine like, the horror in their eyes making them move almost on their own, it was almost interesting to watch. As Trevor turned a corner, one of the large Demon creatures stood before him, making him sigh as was ready to attack, just as a young woman in dark clothes ran at the creatures. Trevor stared on just in shock as she threw herself at the creature, knifes in her hand as her notably green scarf blew with the wind of the night. Just as Trevor expected although, with one simple move of its arm, the young women was thrown across the street and fell to the ground with a thud. Somewhat shrugging off the event that just unfolded in front of him, Trevor swung his whip around, ready to crack it, just as daggers came flying from across the street and into the Demon's face, making it shriek before it exploded into flames. Trevor covered his eyes from the blast before looking over the street to see the young women, whom he perceived to be dead, sitting up with her arm still stretched forwards, it falling slowly as she panted hard, blood coming from bother her nose and mouth. She slowly stood herself up, dusting herself off as she made her way down the street in a run, her boots making a loud sound on the cobblestones, and of course completely intrigued, Trevor followed. He watched as she moved from street to street, throwing knifes and daggers at the beasts as he stared on in awe at the bravery of what looked to be a regular citizen. Yet just as he was about the stand out and confront them, a villager ran past her, knocking her shoulder and throwing her off balance, making her drop her weapon in hand and fall to the ground. The Demon took advantage of this, making a quick advance on her as she scrambled back across the ground, and with quick steps, Trevor ran forth and cracked his whip onto the Demon, making it, as the last, burst into flames with a cry of agony.

Trevor quickly ran to the women and practically dragged her to her feet.

"Come on!" He ordered as he pulled her along by her hand, and in shock the young women ran with him. He moved with her quickly, forcing his way into a shop using his shoulder, crashing through the door as he looked around quickly. He let go of the women for a moment as he jumped the counter. Thankfully, he found just what he was looking for.

"There's a hatch here," He called out as he drew it up. "Quickly, get inside !" He shouted at the girl, and without a second thought, she too jumped over the counter and down into the basement through the hatch, and Trevor moved quickly after her, bringing the hatch down and pulling over the lock. Surprisingly, there was no-one else there but them. He guessed the owner had already died.

"That was quite the stunt out there," He said breathlessly, mentally telling himself how out of shape he was. "I have to say, I'm impressed. Where did you learn those moves?" He inquired as the woman glanced over the him, her frame now pulled up into a smaller shape, more defensive - more fearful. Trevor took a moment to look over what she looked like, as he hadn't had time before. Warm caramel skin, large frizzy umber hair with a braid across her forehead. Large brown eyes, and thin cheeks - clearly malnourished. She wore a large green scarf around her neck, a deep brown over shirt with bell like sleeves and a lighter brown undershirt with rough stitching and rips all over - a brown strap going diagonally across her chest, as well as a belt synching her waist. Tight deep brown leather trousers, a small burgundy bag attached to her thigh by straps, black knee high boots and a large black cape - clearly, she wasn't any regular female citizen.

"If I told you where I learned them, you may run me through," She uttered, coming off as much more tranquil now that she wasn't fighting Demons. "But as it seems that this night hasn't been going well, I'll tell you," She took a breath. "My mother knew Gabriel Belmont quite well. He taught her, and thus, she taught me. I remember before he died, when I was very young, he called me the 'Belmont Daughter' - I never quite forgot that," Trevor smirked at this, tilting his head as he listened. "My mother died when I was 15, and having no father and the Belmonts being far away, I trained myself on the streets - and here I am. What's your story?" She tilted her head over to him as he did to her, and with a chuckle, he slowly stood up, her eyes following him. With one swift movement, he moved his large fur lined cape from his shoulders, it falling to the ground with a thud as the golden Belmont symbol on the back of his clothing, and the young women gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth.

"You're a-"

"Gabriel Belmont was my father," He said as he turned back around and sat himself down. "I am Trevor Belmont, last son of the house of Belmont. I'm afraid I'm the last one left," He shrugged. "I'm not much like my father, but if he liked you, then I'm sure we'll get along, be a good duo or something," He smirked. "What's your name?" He asked as she lightly smiled.

"Aria." She replied meekly, Trevor smiling as he sat himself up against the basement wall.

"Well Aria, I'm going to stay here for the night then I'll be going. I mean, I don't care what you do, but feel free to tag along, but if you're not awake I'm not waking you up, got it?" He stated as Aria gave a excited nod, and with a chuckle, he shut his eyes.

"See you in the morning if we're not eaten alive by monsters," Aria nodded as she curled herself up into a ball on the ground, almost in a cat like manner. "Night, Aria."


	2. Chapter 2 - Nightmares Untold

Awakening in the morning, Trevor found himself to be alone in the small basement, his eyes scanning around quickly to see if Aria had somehow got herself crammed somewhere small to sleep, but alas she wasn't there. He just assumed that she'd already left or had went back to fight during the night and had died. With a grunt, he forced himself to his feet, dusting himself off as he pushed upwards on the hatch to the shop above, light from the outside world gushing into the room making him blink his eyes hard for a moment before he threw the hatch all the way open. He heard a gentle voice talking nearby, and as he pushed himself up onto the shop's floor and then to his feet looking to the doorway, he saw Aria, standing with her back to him with her distinctive green scarf around her neck, holding a small basket on her arm as she spoke softly to someone outside. He leaned on the counter of the shop with a smirk as he listened to Aria thanking the person as they walked off, her turning around with a gasp, clearly not expecting him to be there, but she proceeded back into the shop.

"What you doing out this early? And, what's with the basket?" Trevor asked her in a curious manner as she sat the basket on the counter, flashing him a smile.

"At dawn, I left to find me, well," She paused. " _Us_ , some supplies. You'd be shocked at how giving people can be in their time of crisis if you show them some kindness. As for those who wouldn't so easily give me things for free, I traded them some of my daggers for, well, more so false hope than protection if I do be blunt. Yet, regardless, take what you like as thanks for helping me the night before." She opened the top of the basket to show all kinds of cuts of meats, fruit and small knifes etc – in a time like this, this much food was worth buckets of gold.

"I usually intimidate people to get food, but hey, whatever works I guess," He reached his hand in the basket and took the largest cut of meat. It was raw, but it still tasted better than anything he'd ate in weeks. "But I don't understand giving away your daggers. I see you found some small knifes, but from experience I know they don't quite work the same. Why give away your weapons like that?" He asked her as she shrugged.

"I'm not sure really, it's something your father once said to me, and I recall it oddly vividly," She pondered, bringing her hand to her face in thought. "He always taught me that your weapons are useless if you don't have the energy to use them, so, I prefer to have more to eat and more energy than more weapons. I could have 500 daggers, but if I can't even get up to run then I'm just as useless as having no daggers, does…does that make sense?" She asked as Trevor scoffed.

"Huh, I'll remember that the next time I don't eat in three days." He said sarcastically as he continued to eat, Aria reaching into the basket and taking fruit from it.

The two happily ate in silence for at least an hour, savoring the tastes and the time of calmness they had as light from the grey skies came in through the smashed blood stained windows of the shop – it was gruesome, but oddly relaxing.

As they finished what they could, Aria storing the rest in the basket once more and putting it over her arm as she moved to the door of the shop quietly, Trevor taking the first steps outside into the devastation of the town. He could tell Aria was visibly disgusted, but to him, every town was the same, all blood and gore and people screaming – that's all his whole life had been come to think of it.

Although, as they walked, two young boys came running down the alleyway towards the two, running right past Trevor but grasping the basket of food from Aria as they ran by, Aria yelping at this as Trevor quickly turned, drawing his whip and snapping it in the direction of the boy who'd taken the basket, the whip wrapping around his leg and bringing him to the ground as Trevor pulled a sword, but Aria quickly got in his way, holding her hands up to him.

"No! No, they are but children Trevor," She said softly as he slowly brought his sword down in a disgruntled way as Aria made her way towards the boy who still had this whip around his leg who looked terrified, the other child far gone by now. Aria slowly leaned over the him and picked up the basket. "If you are hungry, you just need to ask. There are people out there who won't show you mercy like I will," She reached into the basket and took out an apple, handing it to the boy before unwrapping his leg. "Now, go. Feed your friend too." It didn't take another moment before the boy scrambled to his feet and began sprinting down the alleyway, Aria standing backup straight as Trevor slowly pulled his whip in, recoiling it again.

"Little brats, why'd you have to go and ruin my fun?" He said as he re-secured the whip to his belt.

"As I said before, kindness goes a long way during a crisis. Hopefully from this, they'll learn to not steal again. Brᾰlia is becoming more and more dangerous as the days go by, even the children are beginning to fight back. Where shall we head to next? Perhaps out of the city?" She asked as she turned to Trevor as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who said you're coming with me?" He asked in an annoyed tone as Aria sighed.

"Well then, I guess you won't want any more of the food I've gathered then, and oh isn't a shame the markets don't even open on a Sunday. Well, I guess you'll just have to-…"

"No, uh, don't act to quickly. Yeah, you can stay with me I guess. God, you act so kind but you're not a fool, are you?" He said with an awkward shrug, rubbing the back of his neck as Aria passed him by, pulling the back of her green scarf up over her head.

"Come on, the exit of the city is just a few streets over." She said as she continued to walk, Trevor smirking a little at her slight boost in confidence in talking from the day before and he quickly brought up his space to walk by her.

He watched her closely as her eyes looked up to the ruined buildings that were in sight, bodies hanging from windows as dismembered body parts lay array everywhere in the streets, blood lining every wall – She remained expressionless. Of course, knowing she was a fighter he knew she was no stranger to being out in the action and seeing people being torn to shreds, so he knew that didn't bother her, but there was something else he noticed. Perhaps when she fought, she went into some sort of zone, almost like another persona, but the after-math, seeing what has been left, haunts her. He wasn't sure, but he knew her expressionless face wasn't fooling him by any means.

Within a few minutes, they made it to the back end of the city where there was a large open archway, and to Trevor's shock, there was no barricading at all. He concluded that Brᾰlia hadn't had time to prepare before the attacks began, and from Aria's sad look, he assumed that to be correct. There were no guards either – the town was just so ghostly quiet, it seems Brᾰlia had basically been already 'cleaned out' by Dracula's minions.

The two began on the long road out of the city, rolling hills in the distance and a forest, Trevor's favorite place to be. Perhaps that would be somewhere good to stay for the night as the monsters only seemed to be interested in the cities and no-where else, so he made that his plan although the forestry looked miles away.

"Aria," He began, catching her attention as she glanced his way with a hum. "You should tell me more about yourself, all I know is your name and that you knew my father, what else should I know?" He asked as she took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure where to begin. I won't give you my life story but I'll give you some facts, perhaps some points that may become useful later. Well first, I cannot swim. It's a childish thing, but I never had the time to learn at any point. Two, well, I believe I am allergic to dogs as any time they draw near I can't seem to breathe, and it's not that I fear them, it's as if someone has their hands around my throat. Three," She paused. "Your father was my hero." She said with a smile as she glanced back to Trevor, making him smirk.

"Yeah, he was mine too, but when the world doesn't want someone they'll make sure to get rid of them, it shocks me that I'm still alive at this point. If my father didn't have time to teach me anything then I don't quite know where I'd be," Trevor said with a shrug as he looked to Aria. "And I can see why you made him proud, you're quite the fighter when it comes down to it. You'll have to teach me how to get slammed against a wall that hard and get up again, plus walk the next day." He said, making Aria laugh gently as she continued walking along, smiling to herself as above them the Heavens opened, rain falling from the sky straight down onto the two. Trevor took this as a sign, and suddenly began to run uphill towards the forestry, making Aria laugh out loud and run after him, shouting at him to slow down as he raced her, and within minutes, they were at the forestry.

"Did you have to run?" Aria asked him as she panted, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath under the shield of the canopy of trees.

"Look, I don't care about many things but fur and rain don't mix very well," He said pointing to his cape, making Aria roll her eyes dramatically as he shrugged. "So now, I'm going to sleep for a while, we can continue to move at night time, I'm tired for now." He said as he sat himself down at the trunk of a tree, putting his head back gently. Belmont's always did enjoy sleeping under trees. He was just about to happily rest when he heard Aria breathing quickly, and opening his eyes he was her jittering with her arms wrapped around her – she was cold, he hadn't noticed this before.

"Hey, Aria! Come have a rest, I'll put my cape around you or something," He said as he leaned forwards, swinging his cape out from underneath himself as a shaking Aria walked his way, placing herself on the ground just between his legs, leaning back until her head was on his chest. Trevor stared for a second, this wasn't exactly what he meant, but regardless, he swung his large cape around them both, and slowly, under that tree, they fell asleep.

†

"Trevor!" He heard in a scream as he opened his eyes to see the whole forest around him on fire and Aria no longer with him, and he quickly stood to a very blurry and echo-y world. He ran in what felt like slow motion through the trees of the forest, pushing fiery branches out of his way as he followed the screams in the voice of Aria. He ran desperately until he saw a clearing in the forestry, seeing a large figure over a smaller one, and adjusting his vision as much as he could in the blurry world he saw _him_ , Dracula, standing tall and cloaked over Aria who was on the ground just before him, scrambling back from him. In those moments he watched, Dracula noticed him, and slowly his eyes moved to Trevor's, the red hue turning into pure flames as even he, with the forest, caught on fire, and soon enough as did Aria, screaming louder and louder, and with a scream himself, he woke up.

"Trevor?" He heard in the weak and tired tone of Aria, who he looked down to see still pressed up against his chest. "What's the matter?" She asked him as he left out a huge sigh, slumping back further.

"Nothing, I just…had a bad dream, is all," He muttered as she sat up concerned, their 'blanket' falling from them. "But, it's getting late," He looked past her to see the light from outside the forest was dim, it was twilight. "Something tells me we should keep going forth, and please, do keep close – I have a feeling someone knows I'm here and that you're with me." He said as Aria nodded, getting up and handing Trevor his cloak back as he stood and slung it around his shoulders.

"Let's move, I fear we don't have much time left."


	3. Chapter 3 - The Belmont Code

Trevor watched Aria intently as she walked just ahead of him, his eyes focused on every part of her he could see. She had no visible wounds, her clothes were all the very same – Perhaps it was just a nightmare and nothing else, but he would be lying if he said he didn't feel something strange about it.

"Trevor, look at this, isn't it curious?" Trevor was snapped out of his trance like state as Aria had a hand pressed up against a tree, pointing into a clearing in the forest that was large and circular – It looked just like the clearing from his nightmare. He squinted slightly as he moved closer towards it, watching as Aria was about to take a step into the clearing, but with a 'mhm' from him, she paused and drew back a little, turning to face him with a curious look. Leaning over slightly, Trevor picked up a small rock from the ground and threw it with force into the clearing, and as soon as it hit the ground, it seemed to get a jolt of energy which made it break apart. Aria gasped at this.

"I-, well, thank you," She uttered as she backed away more from the clearing. "What gave you the idea to do that? I had no idea Belmont's had clairvoyance." She said in a soft tone as she looked back to Trevor with wide eyes, still obviously shaken from shock as he put a hand onto his waist passively.

"We don't, it's just that I had a nightmare eerily like this, I think someone is trying to tell us something. Seems this whole forest is filled with black magic or something, who knows what might've happened if we stayed asleep for any longer." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck in a slightly aggravated manner – It was as if Belmonts were never allowed to keep anyone close, they always seemed to get hurt or die.

Aria accepted what he said to her and questioned it no further, her small frame moving away even further from the clearing until her back was up against another tree. Deciding to take charge of the situation, Trevor took heed and moved forwards through the forestry, Aria quickly following behind in a small run.

"I believe the next city over is Buzau, then it's just one more city after that until we hit Targovishte, and to be blunt, I'm not sure how I feel about going there with what's happening in the world right now. Do you reckon anyone will be alive?" Aria asked in a quiet voice as she walked besides Trevor, once again pulling her green scarf up and over her head. He glanced at her before sighing.

"I doubt we'll find anyone alive, but I'm almost sure we'll find the undead there – more of them than before. I'm pretty sure that's where Vlad Tepes is based right now." He said, resulting in Aria to gasp.

"But, if we go there, he'll-…"

"I know, he'll kill us. C'mon Aria, I'm a Belmont and you're trained like one, we're made to die, I thought you'd be past that stage by now." He said in a passive tone, crossing his arms across his chest as he walked along, this statement in itself made Aria sigh.

"I'm," She paused. "I'm well aware of the Belmont saying, it's just that," She paused a second time, making Trevor look back to her. "It's just that I would be lying if I said I didn't fear death. If I die, if _we_ die, that means the last of the Belmont line is gone and the last person to be trained as one outside the family too is dead. Wallachia needs us more than you think, Trevor." She uttered in a soft tone as she continued to walk, her head now down as she walked.

Trevor thought of what she said for a moment before he even thought about responding to her. To be fair, she did have a point. Although the world did not want them, Belmonts are extremely important to the survival of the world, especially in times like this – but, to fight correctly, to be able to give all you have on the battle field, death must be something you have no fear of so you may throw yourself at the fight 100%. He knew what she was trying to say, but at the same time, it made him worry for the certainty she'd fight right beside him in a life or death event.

Snapping himself from his thoughts and raising his head from his somewhat lowered position, he looked forth to see the forestry ending and the looming figure of a city, Buzau, in the distance.

"The sun's going down," Aria spoke out as the two came to a stop but before the end of the forest line. "Do you think it's wise to enter the city when it's so close to those creatures coming?" She asked as she pressed her hand up against a tree, Trevor noticed this. She'd done this a few times now, it was like she struggled to hold herself up.

"Something tells me this city won't give us much trouble…" He muttered as he moved towards the city, coming out of the cover of the trees. The two moved together along the roads towards Buzau, and very quickly, Aria began to realize what Trevor might've meant – There was no sound coming from the city. The two walked slowly, Aria slowly moving closer to Trevor and taking his arm gently as they only pulled closer to the city, and before they knew it, they were right at what was meant to be the city gates, but all that lay in their path was rubble of the gates that used to be.

"Did the monsters honestly do this?" Aria asked in a soft tone as she pressed her hand against the wall of the broken barricade, Trevor looking over to her with a raised eyebrow.

"I would've agreed if it wasn't for this," Trevor slowly leaned down and picked up a small doll from the rubble on the ground. "I think the people here tried to break out, but I don't think they got very far. Perhaps that was some of the more desperate people we met in Brᾰlia." He said as he turned to Aria, out-stretching his arm to her as she took the small and slightly burned doll. She held it in her hands for a moment, studying it for a moment with a hurt expression before she placed it gently into her basket.

Moving by herself into the city, Aria almost seemed to be under the spell of the city – looking around with an expression of horror as just like before, blood coated the walls, but this time, there was corpses of children everywhere. Trevor stayed close behind her, watching as she moved from street to street, her hands to her chest as she gazed around at the masses of death. Even he at this point was beginning to wonder why so many children seemed to be dead in this city, but as the two turned the corner, it became very clear.

'Buzau Orphanage'.

Aria collapsed over onto her knees in front of the slightly shattered building, her face in her hands as Trevor stood by her, looking up to the orphanage casually, placing a hand onto her shoulder.

"Aria, I-"

"Listen to me!" She yelled at him as she whipped around, tears streaming down her face. "When we find Vlad Tepes, promise to me we will give him his final death!"

Her sudden change of attitude made Trevor step back slightly, staring at her as if confused of what had made her change so suddenly, but of course, the idea of dead children, or children being hurt in general, seemed to disturb her to a deep level. She looked hysterical, like someone had cut off her right arm. He didn't dare question her further, clearly, something had traumatized her once upon a time.

"Heard loud and clear," He said as he put his hand out to Aria, the girl taking it slowly as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "But we've still got to get through tonight before we can even think about that. One night at a time, Aria. As for now," His eyes raised to the sky. "Night is falling quickly again. C'mon, let's get out of the dark before we both lose our legs or somethin'."


	4. Chapter 4 - The Plummet

_**Hey guys, yeah I'm not a big fan of chapter 3! Expect a re-write soon! – Chai**_

Time had passed since the affair of the orphanage, and the sun had completely set to the point where the entire city was in pitch blackness, the only thing keeping the two on their feet being a hand on the wall of the city. The two decided to split up early into the nighttime to search for any type of supplies they could find in the desolated city. Aria took off West, keeping away from the side of the city where the orphanage was located whilst Trevor took the East.

Aria made her way through the streets slowly, searching in and out of buildings for anything she could find, but it seemed that the people who once lived there took their things with them before they met their demise, or perhaps they had hidden everything very well, but all Aria knew was that in a few days her and Trevor would run out of food. Anything would do – A burnt loaf of bread, half an apple, anything she could find was as valuable as the last. Slowly going through cabinets, taking her time in the strangely calm nighttime, Aria came across half a slice of bread – it was slightly moldy, clearly eaten too, but without a second thought she placed it into her basket beside the doll she'd taken from the city walls. Continuing her way through the house, she came to a freeze as she noticed yet another piece of horror – it was a cot, clearly small enough for a newborn, covered in gore. She brought a hand to her mouth with a gasp – Vlad truly had decided to wipe out everything and everyone, even the most innocent.

Trevor paced around somewhat aimlessly, taking in the ruined sights of the city as he weaved in and out of destroyed houses. He was at the point where even looking for food began to get pointless to him, and before he even knew it, his pointless walking had taken him back to where the orphanage was located. Morbid curiosity hit him like a ton of bricks, and he couldn't help but go in towards the large building, trying not to trip on rubble in the darkness.

As he walked through the entrance, he was greeted by a staircase that was still somewhat intact, so he began to make his way up, treading lightly as he did so in case the staircase fell through. When he reached the top, he saw lines of small beds, but none of them had blood on them, nor did the room in general. He concluded that it was an old orphanage, used much before the Vlad Tepes attacks and with that thought he began to walk through the lines of beds. All of them had name plates, most having surnames that he didn't recognize, but at the very back, something caught his eye. There was another nameplate on the floor, and picking it up into his hands to read everything from earlier that evening became very clear. The name upon the nameplate was Aria. Suddenly, the sound of a loud female scream caught his attention and he pushed the metal plate into his back pocket before making his way out of the orphanage.

The owner of the scream, Aria herself, was holding herself up using a windowsill of one of the houses as a one of the Demon creatures, one that was hiding in the very home, had scratched her across the chest, blood flowing from her small frame as she'd dropped all her belongings. As the creature screeched at her, making its way towards her slowly, Aria scrambled across the floor for her spilt basket, grasping the small knifes she had been given by the Brᾰlia people, and she swung her arm towards the beast, lobbing a knife in the direction of its face. The knife lodged itself in one of its eyes, but it wasn't enough to deter it from its attack on Aria. Trevor on the other hand, had found himself a horse in an abandoned stable. It was injured slightly, hence to why it was abandoned, but still he took his risks and rode it into the city on his search for Aria, and this time, he was sure it wasn't a nightmare.

Aria was at the point of no return, well aware that those small knifes were going to do nothing for her here, thus, she backed herself up more and more in the room to where she was at a windowsill, gasping as she realized the drop behind her was far too high for her and that'd she definitely be injured in the process, but with this thought Trevor rode by with the horse he'd found, gripping the horse's reigns back as he noticed Aria.

"Aria!" He called out loudly. "You're going to need to jump," He shouted as he waved her down, Aria bringing a hand to her head in stress and confusion about her situation. "Come on, I'll catch you!" He shouted as he held his arm out to her, a good 20 meters below. Aria took a moment, catching her breath before she threw herself from the window, the beast reaching out after her as she made her plummet towards Trevor and the black horse, and within a moment, she was on the back of the horse as Trevor snapped the reigns to make the animal sprint from the location they were in, the Demon screeching as it couldn't get out of the window, Trevor turning on spot and throwing a knife into its head – and this time, it dropped backwards into the house dead. Aria wrapped her arms around Trevor's waist as he continued to let the horse run its path. The animal ran and ran throughout the city until it could no more, and by this time, they were at the back end of the city, facing towards the next city.

Before Trevor could turn to say anything to Aria, she fell off to the side of the horse, losing consciousness as she hit the ground, and with a gasp Trevor jumped from the horse and kneeled by her, taking her up into his arms as he held her in the bridal position, holding her close as the horse lay down against the city wall. Trevor brought Aria over and sat her down by the horse, her head lying down on its stomach as it too fell asleep. He brought off his cape and put it over her as she lay, letting her and the horse sleep.

Yet, he knew from the moment she was near him once more that something was very wrong. He knew Aria was not the kind to just pass out, he knew he was stronger than that, thus, he slowly moved the 'blanket' down to study her, and of course, she was covered in her own blood. He raised an eyebrow at this, blaming her injury for her unconsciousness, but being no doctor, he couldn't know for sure how bad her injury was, and he had more respect for her than to just life her shirt without her permission, so, he left her to sleep.

†

Within an hour, Aria began to stir once more as she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes as she looked down to the horse she was leaning on the was still asleep. She noticed Trevor's cloak around her and she looked around to spot him, but she couldn't see him anywhere in sight, so she slowly pushed herself up from the ground to stand just as Trevor came around the corner of the city walls, smirking at Aria as he saw her.

"Up already?" He asked curiously as Aria pushed her large hair out of her face. "I had a feeling that you might've been asleep until at least high-noon, are you alright? It seems you've lost a decent amount of blood." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck as Aria looking down to herself, humming as she saw the blood.

"It didn't go deep enough to harm me too much, but I can't let that happen again, I don't usually panic like that. Perhaps you were right, giving away my daggers may have been a bad idea," She said softly as she turned back ground to look at the horse. "Also, I don't recall much about what happened after I jumped, where did you come across this animal?" She asked as Trevor shrugged.

"It was tied up by an old stable, it's injured so I think whoever owned it abandoned it." He said as Aria leaned down to stroke its mane as she picked up Trevor's cape, handing it back to him.

"We should name it." She uttered as Trevor rolled his eyes at her.

"It'll die like everything else, it's already injured, don't bother giving it a name, don't bother getting attached." He said as he leaned his back against the wall of the city, Aria sighing at him.

"It won't die if I can help it, and I'm naming it," She paused for a moment in thought. "Ramona." She said in a soft voice as she turned to Trevor with a smile, Trevor sighing and running his hand down his face as she said it.

Trevor still struggled to understand Aria. He knew that she was trained just like him, toughened up and trained to fight to the death – but still, she kept a hold of the smallest things in life such as dying animals and children's dolls. He had a feeling that perhaps this had something to do with her time in the orphanage, a time where you really did have nothing. Although a 'Belmont sister', she truly did see the light in every aspect of life. Although Trevor didn't agree, he found it admirable.

"I found something of yours," Trevor uttered as he brought the metal name plate from his back pocket and handed it to Aria, Aria staring at him with wide eyes as he did so. "I found it in the orphanage and I had a strange feeling it was yours." He said as Aria slowly looked down with hurt eyes.

"This is where my father found you, isn't it?" He asked as Aria nodded her head in reply, her eyes welling up slightly as she rubbed her eyes with her sleeves, suddenly dropping the name plate and practically throwing herself a Trevor, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace as he gasped in shock before relaxing into the embrace.

He'd never let anyone in his life get this close to him before, physically or mentally, and he was so unsure of it. There was a part of him that wanted to push Aria from him as he knew everything about him was truly poisonous. He struggled to care for anything, to feel any proper emotions or to even grasp the concept of why he was alive – but he couldn't bring himself to tell Aria these things. He'd known her for such a short amount of time, but it felt like he'd known her for years, from a different time, a different place. There was something about her that struck him as different, but at the same time he found her so…familiar? He couldn't put his finger on it.

"Aria," He breathed. "Soon enough, within the next few days, we will be in Targovishte and right in the heart of Vlad Tepes' horror, do you understand?" Aria nodded against his chest. "And you do know that one of us may very well die, so, why embrace me like I am your long lost love?" He asked in genuine curiosity of her answer, and with teary eyes, she looked up to him with her reply.

"You are the embodiment of what I long to be. Brave, strong and un-afraid of death. Yet, I feel I am also what you long to be – Kind, gentle and aware of life. Take Ramona for example, you were willing to let this animal die, but look, she can be mended easily. We keep each other grounded and in a state of reality, that is why I grasp onto you so, Trevor."


	5. Chapter 5 - 3 years old

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When the sun had finally risen and the way was clear for them, Trevor and Aria made their way towards Ploiesti on horseback, Trevor taking the reigns as Aria sat behind him, arms around his waist as Ramona walked steadily over the wasteland of Wallachia. It seemed the closer they got to Targovishte the worse the land itself got more and more dead. A small section of Aria's scarf was wrapped around Ramona's leg to cover the wound on it, the horse's leg first slathered in natural bee's honey Aria found whilst rummaging an old parlor – Aria could only hope that the leg would heal, a horse in a time like this was extremely useful. Once more, they re-entered forestry on their travels, but this time, the forest wasn't as green, it was clearly dying as leaves lay on the ground and the trees decayed – it was just another reminder how close the two were to Vlad Tepes at this point.

Slowly the two entered Ploiesti on Ramona's back, and as expected, the streets were extremely quiet and the town was in devastation. Aria slowly swung her legs around and slid off Ramona as Trevor continued to slowly ride her into the town center, Aria walking besides him to stretch her legs as she gazed around.

"Yet another lonely town," Aria uttered as Trevor glanced over to her with a shrug. "I'm starting to miss seeing people around." She said as Trevor slowly stopped Ramona from walking, pulling her reigns back as he too slid off the horse. He put Ramona's reigns in between two large pieces of rubble, keeping her in place as she snorted happily to Trevor, the man smirking at the horse and petting her snout before he turned to see where Aria was, and just as before, she was wandering down the street herself, gazing around whimsically. Trevor quickly moved after her to get by her side so he didn't lose track of her again if something went wrong.

"I think our plan of action right now is to find something to eat," Aria muttered as she turned to face Trevor. "If we're lucky, maybe there will be some animals roaming these streets, but I heavily doubt it." She said with a shrug as Trevor sighed, he had to agree. There was nothing left in the world at this point for them. Most people and animals were dead and most food was either burned in the destruction or completely off – It was that line between eating something off and possibly getting ill or starving.

"Perhaps if we look in-…" Aria's words were cut off by the sound of shuffling, her and Trevor whipping around to look behind them, Trevor putting a hand on his whip as Aria stood in a braced position.

"Come out! There's not much point in hiding, we will find you!" Trevor shouted out as he began to slowly draw his whip, and then, from a somewhat shattered building, came a very small figure. It was a child.

"Oh my God," Aria muttered as she slowly lowered her arms, Trevor tutting and standing up straight again as Aria slowly walked towards the child that looked like it was about to run away. "No! No…Please, we won't harm you, do come here." Aria said as she got down onto one knee as the child slowly made their way over to Aria in a tentative way, Aria putting her hands out to the child for them to take, and indeed, they put their small hands in Aria's.

"What age are you?" Aria asked in a soft voice as she studied the child. She wore an oversized burgundy peasants dress with a white, dirtied apron. She wore no shoes and wore a burgundy bow on her head – her skin was pale; her hair was dark and to her shoulders and she had bright green eyes.

The child paused before giving her an answer; "3,"

Aria gasped and looked back to Trevor who looked more so annoyed than anything else at this point. Trevor saw the child only as another obstacle in his way towards getting both himself and Aria to Vlad Tepes – Ramona was enough, but now this?

"Trevor, we-…"

"Aria we're not taking this child with us." He said in a stern tone as he crossed his arms over his chest, Aria scoffing as she stood up, picking up the child as she did so and resting her on her hip as she walked towards him.

"Trevor, this is a 3 year old. I have no idea how they're not dead or injured but the fact is that we've found yet another life we can save! Ramona didn't seem like a good idea, but as her wounds heal she becomes a great asset to us, and this child, we could save her life by taking her with us and raising her as yet another Belmont daughter, another prodigy to save Wallachia and-…"

"Aria! We're not-…" Trevor's shouting was cut off by Aria using her free hand to slap him across his face with a decent amount of force, his head being thrown off to the side as he was more shocked than anything else.

"Orphans should be loved the most as we know the worst abuse. Learn to love a little Trevor Belmont!" She shouted at him as she turned away with him with the child, walking back to Ramona and un-wedging her reigns as she got onto her back, taking the little girl on her lap as she rode the horse with one hand, the other around the child as she raced past Trevor on Ramona.

†

Night began to fall once more as Aria had passed right through the town with the child and was in yet another forestry, sitting on the ground with the child on her lap as she rested against a tree, Ramona happily roaming. Twilight shone in through the trees as Aria kept attempting to get the child to speak, but it seemed she was only able to muster a few words here and there, but never full sentences. All Aria wanted was the child to give her a name to call her by, but she knew there was no way the child would give her one, so Aria began to think.

"How do you like the name Lidia?" Aria asked as the child smiled at her nodding her head lightly. Aria knew inside what Trevor was trying to say to her, and perhaps striking him was a bit over the top, but at the end of the day Aria knew she couldn't leave this child all alone, especially one who could survive on her own for this long – clearly, she was special. Aria always did believe in fate, and if she was to take this child, she would.

"Now Lidia, I'm going to try to find us some dried wood so we can start a fire to keep warm tonight, you stay here with Ramona, alright?" Aria said as she placed Lidia aside, letting the child sit on the grass as she moved only a bit into the forest so she could find wood but keep Lidia in her sights. She walked back and forth, placing every piece of wood she found on the ground near Lidia before walking back again as she had nothing to carry the wood in, but on her last trip to bring a piece of wood back, to her surprise, the fire was already lit.

"Oh my," Aria uttered as she sat back by Lidia, who was looking tiredly at the fire. "Did you do this all by yourself? How did you learn to light fires like this?" She asked as she took Lidia back onto her lap gently. Lidia turned to look at Aria as if for approval, Aria giving her an approving nod before Lidia brought her hand forward, snapped her fingers and…her hand lit up into fire. Aria gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

"O-Of course! No wonder you survived, you…You can do magic!" She said excitedly as Lidia shook her hand to put the flame out on her hand before she yawned and settled into Aria's frame, falling asleep by the fire with what seemed to be her new mother. Aria decided to speak no more at this point and let Lidia sleep as night began to fall properly over the forest, and all Aria could think of was Trevor.

†

At this point, Trevor was making his way through and out of the city and towards the forestry slowly, his search for food coming to nothing. He thought of what Aria said, and of course to an extent he thought it was noble for her to take on a child in a time like this – but, she was taking on more than she could handle. As Trevor entered the forest he quickly saw the figure of Aria sat up against a tree and Ramona on the ground sleeping as Lidia too slept on Aria's lap. He made his way over to her and sat on the ground against an opposite tree as Aria looked down and away from him as he sat.

"You didn't exactly need to hit me that hard," Trevor said with a sigh as he shut his eyes, setting down into the tree. "But still, at least you have a strong hand on you." He said with a smirk as Aria slowly looked to him with discontent, upset due to all the affairs.

"Tomorrow we reach Targovishte, that child and the horse is on your hands, Aria."


	6. Chapter 6 - Wounds Unhealing

_****__**Okay, I'm not too happy with chapter 5 either – expect a re-write at some point! – Tea**_

During the nighttime, Aria woke up to nothing but darkness surrounding her, the fire that Lidia had lit now out and any light that once was in the sky had diminished to nothing but blackness. It took her a second, but as her senses came to her she realized that Lidia was no longer on her lap, and in panic she quickly stood herself up to look around, but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, looking over she was Lidia now on Trevor's lap, sitting sleeping against his chest fast asleep. Aria sighed in relief to herself and giggled to herself softly – she wondered how Trevor might react when he awakens. Deciding to take this free time of peace to herself, Aria wandered by herself among the trees, humming to herself gently as she twirled around. As she came to the end of the forest she decided to take off towards Ploiesti, curious to what else she could find in that city as she didn't have much time before. If she found Lidia, then perhaps finding food wasn't too out of the question. As she walked along although, she felt something – there was a presence with her that wasn't there before. Just as she was about to pick up her pace, the ground suddenly shook violently, making Aria yelp and fall to the ground onto her knees before she whipped around, and with horror, saw one of those beasts – Dracula's monsters. Aria, just as before, quickly scrambled to her feet, more so prepared for this attack although as before she had no weapons on her person. Taking her chances as she didn't want to be injured as before, Aria took off in a sprint towards the city, the monster screeching and taking off after her, flying above her – She was shocked how fast she could run when she really wanted to. As she reached the city she quickly began to scan around the large street she was in and with a swift movement, she quickly changed courses and slid on the ground towards a small opening in a large building, the opening just big enough for her to get through if she stuck close to the ground, and with a scramble she struggled to get herself inside – just as, she felt it. The Demon creature had landed and with no mercy had forced one of its talons through her calve. Aria screamed loudly in both fear and pain as she kept trying to get through the opening, but she realized very quickly she was pinned to the ground by the talon. The opening wasn't big enough for the demon to get any more than its arm in, so Aria knew she had to take this chance if she truly wanted to live because once that Demon got its nails unstuck from her it could drag her out, so she reached for the first thing she could, a large piece of rubble. Bringing it around herself she slammed it into the arm of the beast, smashing through its arm again and again as it screeched just outside her building, and before she knew it, she had smashed completely through it and severed the limb, and immediately, she scrambled backwards across the room to the corner as the talon was still stuck in her leg. She knew it wasn't a good idea – she was always told never to pull out anything stabbed into someone as it would cause more bleeding, but it's not like medics were around much and there was no priests to pray for her if even that would work, so with a deep breath and shutting her eyes, she ripped the hand from her leg as she screamed loudly, gasping in and out in agony as blood gushed from her wound, and before she could even think anymore, her world spun and slowly began to turn black and white and with that, her head hit the ground as she fell backwards and fell unconscious.

†

As morning came, Trevor slowly woke up with a stretch as he looked down to see Lidia, still asleep. He quickly gave her a quick shake and the little girl stirred with a smirk as she looked to Trevor, patting his face with her small hands. He sighed out apathetically, nodding at the young girl to show he acknowledged her, but he quickly placed her aside as he stood himself up, looking over to where Aria should've been, but of course, she wasn't.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Aria went, huh?" Trevor asked as he looked down the very small Lidia and she squinted for a second as if thinking and she made little steps over to Ramona, patting her long nose gently to awaken the horse, and with a whine Ramona slowly came to her feet, scuffing her hooves in the mud as Aria turned back to Trevor.

"You…You want to get on the horse? Will you take us to Aria?" Trevor asked with no response from Lidia, whom he just assumed to either be mute or just choosing not to speak, made his way over to Lidia and Ramona, picking Lidia up into his arms as he mounted Ramona.

"Right, okay – towards Targovishte then," Trevor said as he took the reins of the horse, beginning to turn around as Lidia took a little part of the reins with her small hands, trying to turn away from Targovishte and back towards Ploiesti. Trevor didn't miss a beat. "Okay then, we'll go to Targovishte later I suppose." Trevor said as he took heed of what Lidia was proposing and began to ride back towards the city they'd already passed through.

With a few minutes of riding steadily, Trevor reached the city, passing through the bright street as Lidia made a wailing noise, giving Trevor a fright but as he'd figured she was a quiet child, he took that as a signal to properly look around – and he saw the opening of the building Aria was in, blood splatted across the ground and drag marks into the building. Taking Lidia in his arms and sliding off Ramona, he began to approach the opening of the building as Lidia struggled, making Trevor drop her as she ran for the opening, easily sliding in being so small. Trevor slowly got down to a low level to look through the hole, and as he did, he gasped inwards in shock as he saw Aria passed out and Lidia just by her, poking her arm trying to wake her up. Standing himself up quickly as could be, he took his whip into his hand and without a second thought, with a ridiculous amount of strength, he cracked his whip against the wall making much more crumble away, making the entrance big enough for him to get through, and as it was, he dropped his whip and ran in direly.

"Aria!" He shouted out as he skid onto his knees to be beside her as Lidia began to get upset, shuffling her feet and beginning to make soft crying noises he looked down to her leg to see the very large and clearly extremely deep wound. Trevor's eyes opened widely as the horror of the situation unfolded to him – Aria was attacked, and this time, he wasn't there for her. He wondered if she was even alive when he was by her, but regardless he took her into his arms and moved back outside to Ramona, lying Aria gently over her back as she whined out in a distressed manner, Trevor petting her snout to calm her down as he looked down to Lidia, who had her face in her hands, crying soft tears as Trevor slowly picked her up.

"C'mon, tough guy. We can do this, okay?" He said as Lidia looked at him and nodded with puffy eyes and wet cheeks. With one hand, he held Lidia and with the other he led Ramona slowly as he made his way back towards the forest once more.

†

After a while they reached the forest, and Trevor had lit a fire even although it was during the day just to keep Aria warm as he took her from Ramona's back and placed her up against a tree, just like any Belmont should sleep, with his cape over her figure as she lay still completely unconscious. Lidia sat with her, curling up on Aria's lap gently as she was out and Trevor sighed. Perhaps due to this child's family dying or being abandoned she took Aria for the perfect mother figure, and seeing her hurt must be horrific for her. He also wondered how Lidia knew where Aria was, but that really wasn't on his mind right now, he needed to find something, anything to help Aria get well again. Then he recalled something that might just be at the bottom of his pockets, oregano. It was sold to him by a merchant a while ago, imported from Italy, he bought it as he knew it fought viral infections and fights parasites and inflammation, so with that thought he rummaged in his pockets to find a handful of the herb. It was slightly crumpled, and maybe dried out somewhat but he knew he had to do anything he could to help Aria. Kneeling by Aria, he pushed up his cape to show her leg. He didn't exactly want to remove her clothes without her permission, so he just pushed the herb into the wound as best as he could, exhaling deeply as he rubbed his face in stress – this was not meant to happen to people like him, he wasn't meant to get attached to people, but Aria was so different to him.

"Lidia, come now, Aria needs to sleep." He said as he leaned over to pick up Lidia who squealed as he did so.

"Mama!" Lidia screamed as her arms reached out towards Aria on the ground, but Trevor took no notice, spinning her around so her face was to his chest, stopping her from kicking out as he walked a little way into the woods with her to get her away from Aria to perhaps calm her down, and when she was just in sight and no more, he put Lidia down gently and got down onto one knee in front of her.

"Look, you don't like me, and I don't really like you – but you need to learn how to fight, okay?" He said to take her mind immediately off everything, and Lidia tilted her head over as she rubbed her eyes, looking at Trevor curiously.

"Right," He put his palms up in front of Lidia. "Give me your best hit, okay?" He said as Lidia simply just put her palms against his. Trevor stared at her over his hands for a second, squinting at her before his hands began to burn and he withdrew his hands as he looked to Lidia wide eyed.

"Of course," He said as he rolled his eyes. "No wonder you're alive and knew where Aria was, you've got some sort of mind power, don't you? Maybe Aria didn't have such a bad idea when she picked you up." He said as he stood back up again, facing into the forest more as he pointed forth.

"Lidia, in the next few days we're all going to go to a large city called Targovishte, have you been there before?" He looked to Lidia who just looked to him expressionless, he wasn't sure what he expected. "Well, when we get there, I can't guarantee that myself or Aria will live, and you need to know that now. Yet, whatever happens, do not get yourself hurt – For Aria's sake. I have this horrible feeling that if something happened to you that she might be extremely…well, upset." Trevor said as Lidia nodded gently before turning away from him and walking back in the direction of Aria and of course Trevor followed. He hoped that at the very least within a week Aria could walk again, or more so just be able to stand. It was frightening being this close to Targovishte with one of his best assets wounded badly. Just as he was about to sit by Aria and the fire once more, he heard the sound of hooves. He expected it to be Ramona, but with a quick glance to the side he saw Ramona happily lying on the ground. He turned around slowly, his hand reaching for his whip as the figure on horseback was brought into view. They were pale, had long blonde hair and bright eyes, of course, vampire.


	7. Chapter 7 - Vampires don't understand

As soon as the large figure on horseback came into view, Trevor stood up and drew a sword, pointing it up towards the vampire who sat very still, passively staring at Trevor.

"I don't have time for this, Vampire. State your purpose or prepare to die." Trevor said in a strong voice as he stood in a braced stance before the white horse and its blonde rider. The man atop the horse tilted his head over to look past Trevor to where Aria was lay, and with a swift movement, the vampire was gone from the horse and knelt beside Aria, and thus Trevor quickly turned and cracked his whip in the direction of the creature, and without even turning around the vampire raised his arm and let the whip wrap around it. The vampire looked over his shoulder and hissed loudly at Trevor before gripping the whip and pulling it from his hands.

"Who do you think you-…"

"I am Alucard Tepes," The vampire spoke as he pressed the back of his hand against Aria's forehead. "And I've been watching both you and this woman for some time. I was hoping you and her would make it to Targovishte without a wound of this matter, I knew my father wouldn't let you two get to the city," He looked back to Trevor who had his arms crossed and was staring at Alucard – if looks could kill, Alucard would be long dead by now. "I was planning to ask of the assistance of you two to help me defeat my father to stop his reign of terror over Wallachia, but as it seems it looks like you will be the only one coming with me, Belmont." Alucard stated as Trevor's arms fell away from his chest, coming to his side as he stared in anger.

"What do you mean 'only one'?" Trevor snapped at Alucard, who only looked at him with a sigh.

"There is an infection coursing through Aria's body at an alarming rate. I can see you've made an effort to help," Alucard touched down on the herbs on her leg. "But, her lack of movement and the fact that she's ice cold tells me she won't be able to live for many more days, and also, we cannot risk everything by taking a child with us, it will only slow us down. I expect you to join me in this task to destroy my father, that is your goal, yes?" Alucard asked as Trevor rolled his eyes and re-crossed his arms over his body.

"I'm not leaving Aria behind, I'm sure we can get her back to health. It might not look like it, but she's fighting. I'm taking Lidia too, she's Aria's child now – I'm taking them both." He said as Alucard stood from where he stood and pushed past Trevor, going to his white horse and petting its snout.

"Fine, take her, but do not expect her to live. Come now, if we expect to get to Targovishte by tomorrow them we must begin out travel. How do you expect to take them both?" Alucard asked as he hauled himself up onto his horse's back, and Trevor gruffed at him, he didn't like being challenged, especially by the dead.

He took a still unconscious Aria into his arms and walked to Ramona who was grazing in the grass of the forest, and he placed her onto the back of the animal gently so she was lying over the back. He steadied her then took Lidia up into his arms and then mounted Ramona, and with a frown he tilted his head at Alucard as if to say 'This is how', and with a shrug, Alucard pulled the reigns of his horse to turn it in the direction of Targovishte and Trevor slowly followed behind.

He had no way of truly knowing if this vampire who was he said he was, but it was at this point where anyone he could find to perhaps help in the takedown of Vlad Tepes could be helpful, he was willing to take the risk at this point, and a new city meant to possibility of actual doctors. Although it was unlikely, especially in Targovishte, it was worth it.

Lidia turned her head back to look up at Trevor as Ramona walked along slowly and Trevor pet her head gently as if to comfort her. He wasn't sure why he did it, but he did.

"Tell me Belmont," The vampire began in a strong voice as he glanced back to Trevor. "Why take something that can slow you down?" He asked in a confused tone as Trevor once again rolled his eyes at the vampire.

"That 'something' is someone who has shown me how to survive and keep motivated even in the most distressing situations. As for Lidia, she's here for Aria, not me." He said as the vampire made a 'tsk' noise, obviously confused about why he was so caring for other Humans, especially those who were useless in his opinion.

†

As they entered the next city Trevor rode Ramona into the next open building which clearly once had double doors, but as they were broken off it was easy enough for the animal to get through, Trevor ducking as they passed through the doorway. He let himself down from Ramona as he placed Lidia down before he took Aria back into his arms, kneeling down and placing her against one of the walls as he removed his cape and placed it over her body.

"Do you truly intend to try to get her back to health when the odds are so against you?" Came the voice of Alucard as Lidia ran around to Trevor and hid behind his crouched figure and he sighed and finally stood tall, Lidia proceeding to take a grasp of his leg.

"I'm sure I will find someone who knows how to heal her somewhere," Trevor uttered. "The world may be quiet right now but that doesn't mean that absolutely everyone is dead." He finished as Alucard crossed his arms over his body.

"I've been here much longer than you, and I can tell you that the only doctor left was my mother, and as I'm sure you're aware, she is very much so dead," Alucard slowly brought his hand up to his mouth, revealing his teeth as he pressed his finger into one. "If you'd like, I could-"

"No," Trevor cut him off. "I refuse to let Aria become one of your kind, if I was to do that then there would be no point in healing her as I'd have to kill her in the future anyway, it's the Belmont code, I can leave no vampire un-staked." He said in a strong voice as Alucard brought his arms down, shrugging at Trevor. Alucard stood back, letting Trevor have his space at this time as he went back to his horse, pulling it away from the area to take him to safety as Trevor gazed down at Aria. Maybe he was right.

All of a sudden, Aria's breathing became much heavier, and in a moment, her eyes opened up as she looked around hazily. There was sweat running down her face as she blinked hard, adjusting to the light as Trevor quickly knelt down once more to be by her side. He put his hand to her forehead, she was freezing, but she was weakly trying to push the cape off her body as if she was sweating because she was too hot, but he didn't let her and pulled it up further.

"You're confused Aria, you need to keep warm, you're freezing," He muttered as Aria breathed a silent 'no'. "No, no listen to me – you're _confused_. You're very injured but I'm going to get you help alright?" He said as Aria looked to him with misty eyes before suddenly falling back unconscious once more, hitting her head perhaps a bit too hard on the ground below, and with haste Trevor quickly sat her asleep body upright again so her airways wouldn't be blocked.

"You seriously think she's going to last long enough for you to seek some kind of mystical doctor you speak of?" Came Alucard's voice once more to the dismay of Trevor.

"I thought I already told you that I-…"

"I didn't even mention vampirism. I'm merely trying to get it into your head that she's going to die very soon, and the longer we wait here stalling the more time my father has to destroy more and more of Wallachia, and I also fear, the world. Leave her here for some time," Alucard looked past Trevor. "And leave the child too. If she's now the child of that women then she should stay here, I feel a supernatural presence from her anyway. Come, Belmont. Let me show you around Targovishte so you may better understand the nature of this attack." Alucard offered Trevor as he outreached his pale hand to him. Trevor looked back for a moment to the passed out Aria and the teary eyed Lidia just behind him. He knew it was wrong to leave them here, but he wouldn't be gone for long, or at least that's what he told himself. The creature had a point although, Lidia should be able to protect Aria if push comes to shove and it's also daytime, so the prospect of her being hurt by the creatures of the night was unlikely. But still, he ignored the outstretched hand and just moved past the vampire, a frown on his face as he moved.

"Let us go, vampire. No more than an hour, you better make this worth my time."


	8. Chapter 8 - Dead or alive

Taking to their horses and pulling away from the place where Aria and Lidia were in hiding, the two rode together slowly deeper into Targovishte as the devastation of the city was becoming more and more apparent. Unlike other cities Trevor had seen at this point, there had been no effort here to clean up the bodies or the gore that lay casually around the streets, but Trevor held that up to literally everyone being deceased at this point and from the slight skeletal nature of the vampire riding next to him he took this as fact – the creature of the night wasn't feeding, perhaps that was why he was so interested in the idea of turning Aria. Trevor watched on in curiosity as the vampire slid to the side of his horse, reaching down to the ground and touching down on a pool of blood and licking the blood from his fingers slowly, grimacing after taking his taste and then flicking the blood from his hand – it was clearly a taste he didn't like.

"What's wrong with it?" Trevor asked with a raise of an eyebrow and Alucard looked over with a frown.

"It seems to be mixed with the Demon blood of those creatures my father unleashed – it makes the blood taste like death itself, I haven't been able to feed in some time now. Aria was one of my last chances of strength." He said as the horses slowly took a turn on their own as if they knew the way to go without being told where to go.

"The horses seem to want to go to my father," Alucard pulled the reigns of his horse back, making the animal stop as it walked and Trevor did the same, looking forth and seeing a black shadow in the distance that he now understood to be a castle, thus he too pulled the reigns of his horse. He was unsure exactly why the animals would naturally go there, but perhaps Vlad had a type of energy that attracted more weak things towards him, although he wasn't sure, and from Alucard's angry expression he didn't want to ask.

"Tell me Belmont, something has been bothering me since I first saw you," He said as he glanced towards Trevor. "Why is it that you hold onto someone whom is so ill? I've asked before yes, but that doesn't make me any less curious."

Trevor took a breath, to be clear, he wasn't exactly sure anymore – he was beginning to realize that Aria was indeed more likely to die within the next few days, hell, in a few hours if it gets any colder. He thought for a few moments about what his response might be, but before he could even think he saw something even he was slightly taken aback by – a rather large pile of bodies in the middle of the street. He pulled Ramona's reigns to stop her walking any further and Alucard did the same as he gazed on at the somewhat horrific sight. Alucard quickly and swiftly came down from his horse, petting her snout on the way by as he made his way towards the gory pile, Trevor following behind quickly doing the very same. The pile was stacked very tightly, bodies pressed together face to face, downwards towards the ground as blood created a pool around the mass of at least 60 people. Alucard reached forth and pressed his hand up against the face of one of the corpses, a young lady, and he squinted at her curiously before his eyes opened wide and he withdrew his hand, bringing to his chest with widened eyes.

"I'm unsure of what to make of this," He said in a soft-spoken manner as Trevor glanced to him, crossing his arms over his chest. "These are no regular corpses, these are failed attempts at making more vampires, can you believe it?" Alucard's eyes slowly drew up to the shadow of his father's castle. "Father, what are you trying to do?"

"How can you possibly know that?" Trevor asked as Alucard titled his head, touching onto the face of the young women once more. "For being a corpse, her skin is extremely well preserved and tight around her face, it's not sunken – I've only seen this once before, when my father used his knowledge of the sciences to make synthetic vampires. Perhaps he's trying to widen his army by using vampires too, but from the look of this pile, he hasn't done very well, yet, who knows how many are in that castle right now with him, just awaiting his orders? Belmont, when the time arises, you must trust me to fight by your side and take down this army, do you understand?" Alucard said strongly as he turned and moved back to his horse, more so just wanting Trevor to accept his words than actually reply, but of course, Trevor couldn't help himself but mutter a 'I don't care' under his breath.

The two mounted their horses once more and decided to make their way back towards Aria and Lidia to make sure they were alright and to see if Aria's illness had advanced, yet as they rode only closer, the sound of Lidia screaming sounded out and without a second thought Trevor whipped the reigns of Ramona and she took off in a sprint as Alucard followed behind as quickly as he could. As Trevor reached the place where he'd left the two, he quickly pushed himself inside to only have his breath taken away. Lidia was crying loudly, hands over her eyes as Aria convulsed and shook violently on the floor, her eyes rolled back and blood flowing from both her her mouth, nose and eyes. Trevor took no time on sliding up next to her, trying to take her into his arms to stop her from shaking, but he knew, she was dying.

Alucard suddenly entered, too sliding to Aria but pushing Trevor completely out of the way. He stared at her pale face as he held her tightly, and then brought his attention towards Trevor.

"Listen to me, I _can_ turn Aria and save her consciousness from dying. Her body will be dead but it will of course still be Aria. I understand that you kill vampires, and one day will even kill me, but make your choice Belmont! A feeding for me and your love right next to you once more, stronger than before!" Alucard shouted as Trevor held his breath as Lidia continued to scream – it was a terrifying situation. Could he let Aria die a horrific death as a Human, or could he bare to kill her at a later date as a vampire? He knew time was running out, but he was lost for words.

"Her heart beat is growing faster, make your choice!" Alucard shouted as Trevor's heart raced.

"I-I don't know if-"

" ** _Belmont!_** "

"Alright! Kill her, kill her now!" He practically screamed as Alucard took no time in gripping Aria tightly and thrusting himself more towards her, slamming his fangs into her throat, blood flying all over the walls as Trevor grasped Lidia's arm and dragged her towards him, holding her against his leg and shielding her eyes as she continued to scream. Trevor watched as Alucard took heaving gulps from Aria's throat, and he felt himself go cold as he watched her slowly go limp, but before she stopped moving completely, Alucard pulled up his shirt and bit his own arm, ripping his skin and then tipping his own blood into Aria's mouth - and then, without a thought, he dropped her body onto the ground as her eyes stared up to the ceiling, she looked dead.

Trevor slowly picked up Lidia, taking the small child into his arms as he looked on as Aria continued to be completely still, not even blinking, what was left of her blood escaping through her neck wound as Alucard wiped his mouth with his sleeve trying to get himself back together.

"Did it work?" Trevor asked as Alucard but swished his hand towards Aria, and as Trevor's eyes followed this movement, he noticed that Aria was blinking, slowly, but blinking, and within a minute, she was slowly trying to push herself up, a disoriented look on her face.

"Aria!" Trevor shouted as he quickly put Lidia down, he stood back confused and frightened, Alucard taking Trevor's place and placing his hand on Lidia's head. As Aria heard Trevor's voice, she suddenly beamed at him, opening her arms to him as he came to her level and embraced her tightly – she was cold, he would be lying if he said it didn't disturb him slightly, but none the less, it was Aria.

"Trevor, my god, I cannot remember a thing and," Her eyes suddenly snapped towards Alucard. She stared at him for a moment, but in a second visions came to her of his life, including him turning her, and she suddenly brought a hand to her throat, feeling the blood and she gasped.

"This…means," She paused. "That, you-… Alucard. Alucard Tepes. I saw everything, your past, your present, you saved my consciousness." She uttered as she slowly stood up shakily, having to use to wall to support herself. "I am forever in your debt." In an attempt to bow to him very slightly as a sign of respect she lost her footing and slammed back to the ground, groaning as Lidia wailed in panic, but at this sound, Aria suddenly noticed that Lidia was hiding behind Alucard's legs.

"Lidia… Come, please, it's me. I will not harm you." Aria said softly as she opened her arms to the child, and slowly, Lidia came out from behind Alucard's legs and slowly went towards Aria, a nervous look on her face as she did so. As she came just out of reach or Aria's arms, she spoke.

"Mama?" She uttered very softly, and Aria nodded her head with a smile, and suddenly Lidia threw herself at Aria, embracing her as Aria laughed – she did not yet fully understand what had happened to her, but she knew there was a chance she was never going to see Lidia or Trevor ever again. As she held Lidia although, Trevor put a hand on the side of Aria's face, and they began to draw close with soft expression, their lips almost touching.

"Belmonts," Alucard butted in, stopping them in their tracks, making them awkwardly move away again and turn their attention to him. "There's not enough time to play happy family right now. I gave you extra time because you were dying, this is enough, we must advance towards my father's castle and stop him, before it's too late."


End file.
